The latest issue of the internationally authoritative hepatology journal, Hepatology, featured a collaborative study between the State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering at Fudan University and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine as a cover article. The research indicates that green tea has a significant detoxifying effect on the toxic side effects of anticancer drugs. Cancer patients who drink more green tea while taking the first-line anticancer drug daunorubicin (DNR) will greatly improve its therapeutic efficacy.
Professor Yu Long, one of the leaders of the project from the State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering at Fudan University, explained that daunorubicin is a widely used anticancer drug. However, it binds with carbonyl reductase 1 (CBR1), an enzyme widely present in the human liver. This not only reduces its antitumor activity but also causes cardiotoxicity, leading to damage to myocardial cells. This metabolic characteristic of daunorubicin significantly limits its clinical application.
In the study of green tea's anticancer effects, researchers discovered that the main component of green tea polyphenols is a potent inhibitor of carbonyl reductase 1. This means it can reduce the toxic side effects of daunorubicin and improve its clinical efficacy. This finding not only reveals a new approach for liver cancer treatment but also provides new ideas and data for systematically analyzing tumor drug resistance from the perspective of drug metabolism, reducing drug side effects, and exploring combination drug therapy in cancer treatment.
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Yu Long stated that, generally speaking, all types of tea can have a positive effect on the efficacy of this anticancer drug. However, due to different fermentation methods, green tea has a higher content of tea polyphenols, so drinking more green tea will have a better effect.